Hamburger Buddy

Very finely chopping onion, mushrooms and carrots in the food processor is not only fast—it makes the vegetables hard to detect for picky eaters. They also form the base for the sauce of this ground beef skillet supper. Make it a meal: Serve with a green salad.

READER'S COMMENT:

"Total comfort food! I've made this dish several times now. My partner actually requests it!
My modifications were based upon many suggested by other reviewers: Chop and shred your veggies for the texture, splash of red wine added...

154 Reviews for Hamburger Buddy

12/10/2011

Anonymous

Was a little bland. I added more garlic and some creole seasoning. Was not very impressed with it. Refrigerated the left overs for lunch the next day, since it wasn't that bad. Believe it or not, it actually tasted better cold.

Great recipe to sneak in extra vegetables and easy to make gluten free. I made ours with the following gluten free substitutions: brown rice elbow pasta (instead of whole-wheat pasta), gluten free flour from Bob's Red Mill (instead of all-purpose), and gluten free Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce). I also used ground turkey instead of ground beef and Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Brown rice pasta cooks a little differently from traditional pasta - I recommend cooking it less than the recipe/pasta manufacture suggests so that the pasta doesn't get mushy.

I've made this twice: the first time exactly as the recipe stated. It was alright, but a bit bland. I re-read the reviews and did the following: Added 1 finely diced green bell pepper, used all low-sodium beef broth and no water, cut the thyme to 1/2 tsp., added 1/2 tsp. marjoram and 1 1/2 tsp. Montreal Steak Seasoning, 2 Tbs. worchestershire sauce, and used 6 oz whole-wheat Omega 3 maceroni and 1/4 cup fat free sour cream. Oh, and I added an extra clove of garlic and a bay leaf.
These additions took the dish from just okay to AWESOME!!! My husband wants this in the regular rotation! It was SO great with the additions! Granted, we aren't feeding any children so I spent the time to finely chop everything (I don't mind) - if you don't have good knife skills or are short on time, then use a food processor. Oh, and I didn't even need to add the flour slurry - it was thick and rich, not soupy at all! Really great when you want "comfort food" that's healthy!! I will use ground extra-lean turkey next time! Wonderful!! Well worth the time to chop up everything! Tasty, filling, and very satisfying!

I made this for the first time last night. My family absolutely loved it, even my picky eater. I had some of the leftovers for lunch today, and it tasted even better! I did add extra spices to give it a little more oomph. I will be making this again for dinner.

My mother was too cheap to make anything from a box and I grew up to be a food snob, but my trashy partner insisted we try Hamburger Helper, so this dish was the compromise. Next time I'll read the reviews first. I was out of Thyme (seriously) so I used Italian Seasoning instead, added extra garlic, an extra tbsp of Worcestershire and shredded the veggies instead of pureeing. Loved the appearance and texture, but it was way too bland. Next time I'll do as others have suggested by adding tomato paste, salsa and wine or hot sauce... or even buy that stuff in the box.